


Of Love And Duty

by missema



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Drabbles, Dromund Kaas, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family, Married Couple, Married Life, Married Sex, Married Sith, Sith in everyday life, Trying To Conceive, families
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-04-12 00:14:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4457936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of shorts after the defeat of Darth Baras.  Caylia and Quinn just doing life in the Sith Empire.  WIP.  Might one day maybe contain stories from the expansions, but not yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memory

There are lines of people hoping to speak with her today, but not all of them will be worthy enough to see the Emperor's Wrath. She and her crew were freshly back on Dromund Kaas after some time on Tatooine. There was still a war going on - not silent and full of furtive fury as it had been when she'd first come to Dromund Kaas, but open and raging across every front they could attack.

It made her a very popular person, though Caylia really only had to answer to the Emperor and his servants. And the Emperor, as far as she knew, was dead. That was why people wanted her though - there were problems that people wanted to bring to the Emperor and couldn't. She wasn't Dark Council, but had power. It drew members of the populace to her, made her a target for those wishing to use her might to enact their own vengeance and claim it was for the good of the Empire.

Kaas City was full of people seeking her favor upon their arrival into dock. Broonmark had banished them all until they were settled back into their apartment. Pierce, Vette and Jaesa were currently dealing with those that hadn't been scared off by the Talz. Quinn performed the last round of examinations before people were actually sent on to her. Caylia really didn't have time for any petitioners but had to make a good show of it. This was where she leaned on Malavai more than ever, because he understood nuances that she did not.

She was feeling very warm towards her capable Captain at the moment. He was a good husband and partner, though he would be the last to think so. She knew he didn't consider himself very worthy of her, but it took time and small steps to get past it. The bumps in their relationship wore hard on his perfectionist personality, though they'd weathered them so far. Drommund Kaas made all of their problems feel nearby, like they were pressing in on her. She almost longed for the far-flung desert planet just because it hadn't demanded so much of her. Quinn had even been a smidge more relaxed there, and that trait had vanished the moment they'd arrived in Kaas City.

Tatooine, for all its faults, had beautiful night skies. Night was what she always thought of whenever she thought fondly of the giant dustball of a planet. The heavens shone bright with stars and the blazing heat was turned down. Despite the occasional sandstorms, night was the best time on Tatooine. Now she had a memory to place with it, warm arms around her in the cool air as she gazed upward.

She had been out looking up at one of those amazing night skies, savoring the relief from the blistering heat and dryness. Caylia had been alone, for a brief moment, collecting her thoughts before bed. The precious cool nights were the only break from the heat and not to be wasted, for they were short. The twin suns would be beating down relentlessly again in a scant few hours. Malavai came up next to her, but didn't speak, watching her as she looked up into the sky.

"I fell in love with you last time we were here," he said in a voice that was more whisper and rumble than real sound.

"Did you?" Caylia asked, surprised. "I seem to remember you being very eager to leave this overheated sandbox." She smiled at the memory of it.

"That is still true," Quinn admitted with a smile. "But the fact remains - it was here that I realized how much I cared for you."

"Even after that sand demon and the Jedi Master?" She was smirking as she asked, though she was serious about the question. This was a trying place at the best of times, and not a likely place for such a realization.

"Yes," he answered emphatically. "And now I'm reminded that I love you more than ever."

The memory of their kiss is almost overwhelming, as if the memory has captured the feeling of his lips on hers, the heat between them, and it makes her tingle down to her toes. Malavai is rarely so open with his affections or thoughts, she truly had no idea that he came to care for her during their last visit to Tattooine. That night, he was so forthright that it came out even in his kiss, one that went on so long the wind carried away most of their warmth and left them clinging to each other once they broke apart to run towards shelter and continue their wordless conversation.

Caylia allowed herself a small smile at the memory, but then tamped it down inside of her, to a place where she kept all of her fondest thoughts. She would have visitors again soon, and didn't want to show any weakness. While it was good to be back on Kaas, with it's regular temperatures and opulence at her fingertips, part of her missed the cool nights in the Outer Rim.


	2. Sith Opera

The center stage was lit with a bright golden light, and the heroine hit a high note that left Malavai Quinn a little breathless as he listened. The Sith Opera was a delight - a spectacle of sound and sight, and a visit was a rarity that he didn't often allow himself. This opera however, was closed to all but the Sith and their esteemed guests for the moment, before the show officially opened in Kaas City. Quinn had been very much looking forward to going, he was a fan of the tenor and this was a completely new performance. It managed to wrench his attention away from his wife for vast stretches of time, minutes all in a row, which was a feat in and of itself.

Caylia was next to him, her hair artfully arranged in a complicated twist and she was wearing a slinky silver dress that reminded him of water rushing down a mountain under moonlight. Other Sith Lords didn't willingly give up their armor and sabers for a night out on the town, but his wife wasn't some middling Sith trying to display her power. She appeared unarmed, but he carried her lightsaber for her, the heavy hilt in a concealed pocket on his suit pants. He was openly armed, a blaster pistol at his side, but he was no Sith.

Whatever they appeared, none would dare attack the two of them, not tonight. Still, it didn't hurt to take precautions against fools and usurpers, or those that were one and the same.

Their night passed uneventfully, save for the exquisite beauty of a well performed piece. Malavai was pleased - Caylia didn't like the opera normally, and it was only at his urging that she'd agreed to go at all.

"Did you enjoy it?" he asked, the question coming out a little more anxiously than he wanted. The two of them had few hobbies in common that didn't include killing things. He wanted more for them.

"Malavai, it was wonderful. I've never much cared for performance before, but I can't say I've seen anything like that, " she said. "It was like the music rang up to the rafters and flowed down to cover all of us."

He smiled at her, offering her his arm as they got into a taxi to take them back to the residential part of Kaaa City, where they made their sometimes home. In his mind, this place was less like home than their ship, but more like it than any other planet. Quinn had trouble being comfortable with the opulence of it all, though he never objected. The apartment was made for high-level Sith, which his wife was, but it put him a world away from the modest abodes of other Imperial Captains.

But those thoughts were far from his mind that night as they rode the taxi home. The rain had relented for a time, and the night was balmy. He pulled Caylia closer in the taxi, so close that she was practically in his lap so he could place a kiss on the nape of her neck. Her hair smelled sweet, like whatever balm helped it retain the elaborate shape and shine, and it mingled with her own pleasing scent. Malavai kissed her neck again, letting his lips trail softly over the tendons on one side. She didn't turn towards him, but put her hand on his thigh, drawing shapes with idle fingers. It was as much as the two of them were willing to give in public. 

The lift to their apartment was a wholly different, and more private, situation. He would not do his wife the indignity of mauling her while away from true privacy, but in the elevator, their kisses seared with heated intent and their was no space between the two of them, laced together tightly as they sped upwards. 

Their ride was quick, and over too soon. Caylia led him towards their door, holding his hand as she pulled away, her dress winking reflected light as she moved. Quinn had no mind for anything but her and let himself be led. Normally, they'd need but open the door and he would carry her to bed, but he had to stifle a groan upon entering.

His wife's apprentice, Jaesa was house-sitting for the evening. Malavai wasn't sure, but he thought it was part of some task Caylia had given the younger woman, since their home was secured by a number of guards and other traps, aside from it being one of the most secure places on Dripomund Kaas , aside from the Citadel. There was no need for one lone woman to sit inside of it, but Caylia hadn't offered an explanation and he'd not asked for one. Jaesa's presence, however, interrupted them.

Jaesa stood when the door opened to admit them, and Caylia dropped his hand to go to her. Apparently, she'd also forgotten about their houseguest. As the talk turned to the many calls that had been missed while they were at the opera, Malavai excused himself. It was with ill-grace that he made his way to the refresher, alone, while he saw that Caylia and Jaesa still conversed.

When the hot water did nothing to soothe his frustration, and he was more annoyed by it than anything else, he got out. The heat of the water didn't dull the ache for his wife, didn't do anything more than waste time. He wasn't dressed yet when he heard Caylia calling for him.

"Malavai, Jaesa has gone," she said, raising her voice so he could hear her through the closed door.

He didn't immediately exit, but took only a little time to put on his underclothes. Caylia's dress was laying across the back of a chair, ready to be sent for cleaning and he carefully placed his dress uniform with it. Quinn powered down the lights now that he didn't need them anymore, reducing the power by eighty percent. It left the room in a dim glow.

In the kitchen Caylia stood with her hair loose and clad in only the short black, silk bathrobe she loved. Her holocom was out on the counter, as well as a glass of wine. She nodded at it when he came into view, and he took a slow, careful drink, tasting the wine with the full of his tongue in order to place it. This was a game of theirs, she bought exotic and sometimes rare wines for them to share - once he'd guessed where and sometimes when it was from. 

But the game wasn't difficult tonight, it was a good Corellian, deep red and slightly sweet, but not hard to place. She must have just wanted a drink, perhaps it was opened and offered to Jaesa, knowing that she would refuse. He let the pleasant, if a little boring, wine slide down his throat and took another sip. "Corellian nonvintage red?" He asked, but didn't need her nod to know he was right.

"Is all well?" he asked carefully. There were so many things he needn't know, Sith business that didn't concern him, but he always liked to check in and make sure she was alright.

Caylia nodded, then took another drink from her glass. She moved closer to him, fitting an arm around his waist, tucking herself under his chin and up against him. He still smelled sweet and perfumed from earlier and Quinn absently kissed the top of her head. Carefully, he put the wine glass down after downing the last of it, warmth blossoming in his chest from the large gulp. Malavai tipped her face up and met hazel eyes that asked without asking, and he kissed her in answer. They most certainly were going to finish what they'd started earlier, at the opera house where she sat close and gripped his hand when the music swelled to fill the room. There were too few nights like this in their lives.

They kissed languidly, as if they had all manner of time available to them. Caylia's hands pressed against his chest, fingertips curled into his flesh. She breathed out intently, relaxing as she did. One hand slid up in his hair, the other around his neck, pulling him ever closer. He could taste the wine she'd drunk, and it was sweeter on her parted lips than it had been from his own glass. His tongue pressed against hers, but in the softest way, mirroring the pressure of his hand on the small of her back. He teased until she could take no more, pulling away from his mouth to lay claim to his neck and chin with her kisses. She hummed softly as she brushed against the bristle on his face - he hadn't shaved after his shower. His hands snaked around her waist to open the ties to her robe, revealing her bareness beneath. She kissed his lips again as she shiver lightly in his arms, and he wasn't sure if it was from cold or him, but he pulled her against her chest.

Her holo chimed, the sound causing him to pause against her lips, a kiss unfinished. "Let it go," Caylia mumbled against his mouth, but he pulled back.

"My lord," he began, but she pulled his face back down to meet hers.

"Consider it an order, Malavai," she said when he broke away again, as the insistent chime rang in the background.

He smiled, knowing that she wasn't serious about ordering him around, at least, not in this instance. In retaliation he picked her up, the open robe fluttering around her like black butterfly wings, and carried her to bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him as he did. The sound of the holocom faded with each step away, silencing when the door shut behind them.

The clock panel next to his side of the bed flashed the time when he drew within activation range; it was an hour after they'd gotten home. A full hour since she'd led him from the elevator. Apparently they'd both felt the wait was too long, because she moaned softly, calling his name. He stripped and got into the bed, his hands immediately tangling in her hair as she pulled him into a kiss.

Her robe had been discarded and there was nothing between them, just skin and heat and need. He tasted her neck, her breasts, the downy soft skin between her thighs - and then finally the heat at her core, making her whimper when he pressed his tongue against her slit with hard, flat strokes. For all their ardor, he was tired, but not without enthusiasm. Malavai's tongue worked quicker, curling and lapping until her hips bucked against him with the first tremors of release. She favored him with the best way to hear his name from her lips, muffled by her thighs clamped against his head, a cry that made his cock harden painfully as she rubbed the heels of her feet on his back, like a contented cat stretching after a nap.

They both shifted, and at her silent request, he sat against the headboard of their bed. She mounted him then, sliding carefully atop his length so slowly that he couldn't stop his head from tilting back until it rested against the headboard and Quinn let out a long, low moan. When he does begin moving, the strokes are short and quick, almost secondary to his hands on her, roaming all over, her hair hanging around her face in long drapes as she looks down at him, the weight of her breasts bouncing in time to his rhythm. She moans softly, but he covers it with his mouth, kissing her until heat gathers too much within him and makes his thrusts harder. 

Caylia moved for leverage, bracing one hand against the bed so she can lean back and give them both more room. Like any partnered dance, their movements coordinate and for a moment all Quinn can see is her eyes, gleaming and bright as she brought herself down to meet his hips again and again. The banked heat within him breaks, flowing through him as if it rode on the back of his blood as it streamed throughout his body. Caylia's close to him then, still moving, but slow, slow, slow, not enough to be disrupted as he wraps his arms around her and breathes ragged whispers into her breasts.

She moves until there's no longer a need, then stills in his lap. He kisses her, the hot, sloppy kisses that characterize a particularly pleasurable time in bed, the end still so near that it made his head buzz. They are both breathing heavily, but her skin is cold as opposed to the fire within him, and panting, he rolls with her still in his arms, setting her against the sheets. The blanket is around his ankles so he kicks it up, but there's no need, Caylia curls against his side. An absolute exhaustion settled on him, and he slips an arm underneath her as he falls asleep.

He almost sleeps through his alarm in the morning. Almost. It's said that nights at the Sith Opera can have an especially calming effect on people.


	3. A Dinner Party

Dromund Kaas was full of amusements for a particularly well connected Sith like Caylia, but none more dull than the dinner party.

They got invitations to one at least twice a week. 

As a rule, she couldn't accept all of them. Some she couldn't refuse, but those were few. Any that didn't invite Captain Quinn as well as the Emperor's Wrath were tossed. She had no use for fools that didn't pay close enough attention to events to know she was married. Sadly, most were from Imperials ready to curry favor with both her and her husband so they both received a good number of invites each week. Quinn was savvy enough to know which should be taken seriously and which weren't worth their time. The vast majority of invitations turned out to be the latter, much to her relief.

Caylia hated dinner parties, but at least she hadn't been forced to have one of her own yet. The nebulous nature of her work made a ready excuse whenever someone inquired. 

There were good things about going out together all the time. She got to admire Quinn in his dress uniform at least once a week. He was a head taller than her when they were barefoot, enough so that when they embraced, he often rested his chin in her ponytail or kissed the top of her head. When they went out, he wore the heeled dress boots with his uniform, polished until the blackness reflected any speck of light. He was a bit taller, but so was she. Her shoes evened out the difference in their height, making them not quite equal but raising her enough to look him in the eye without raising her chin. It was a lovely change in perspective for a kiss or to exchange a silent message when needed.

That evening they were to attend one of the many parties, though this one wasn't anything intimate or small. They were going to make an appearance at a rather large party, and thus didn't need to show up on time. Caylia liked to be late when she could, but it made Malavai understandably antsy. It went against the very nature of his regimented soul.

Their tardiness worked against them that evening, when they found themselves stuck in a queue for the speeders that left from nearby their apartment building. Instead of waiting, Caylia was of a mind to walk. The residence was still in Kaas City, and there was no reason to spend as much time waiting for a taxi as it would to walk there.

They didn't speak as they walked away from the crowd, but he stayed close to her side even as he led the way. One of these days she would have to learn more about how to get around this city, where the fashionable blocks were and all of that, but for now she knew as much as she cared to know. Caylia could get to the Sith Sanctum, her home, the market and the spaceport. Anything else seemed superfluous.

Footsteps behind them caught her notice, and she tugged on Quinn's sleeve. She made a hand motion that was meant to send them both to separate sides of the street, she with saber in hand, but she wasn't quick enough.

A man came rushing around the corner at them, blaster out. For a moment her hand groped for a belt that wasn't there, searching for her weapon. Two more men came from behind them, and instead of reaching into Quinn's jacket to pull her saber from the interior pocket, she chose to push him up against the wall, so that he wasn't vulnerable in any direction.

He understood her action a moment after she made it. Unarmed she felt more vulnerable, but also more adrenaline racing through her. She was still powerful in the Force, no matter where her saber was. The man on her left was exchanging fire with Quinn while the two on the right advanced. She held out her hand and used the Force to choke one of them, focusing all her rage into it until she could feel him falling unconscious in the grasp of her will.

The man Malavai was fighting had gone down, but there was still one more. He was advancing past the fellow that Caylia had choked, his blaster focused on her. Quinn put a blaster bolt between the man's eyes, pulling her to his chest. She stumbled slightly because of the heels but he held fast with his arm around her. With the impact, her shield generator activated, covering them both from any incoming fire that might come. Her ears pricked, searching for the slightest sound of an accomplice they hadn't seen yet, but there was nothing but the sound her breathing in her ears.

"Saving your damsel?" Caylia asked, her voice huskier than she intended.

"Paying her back for all the times she's saved me, I think," he said without looking at her. He was still scanning for threats. "And it would be a pity to get that lovely dress covered in blood." He finally looked back at her, looking down just slightly at meet her eyes. "You look beautiful. I don't think I've said that tonight." Malavai was once again her somewhat shy husband, arm still locked around her keeping her close, but his blaster was holstered.

"We still have a party to go to," she said, but he shook his head. 

"I wouldn't advise it, my lord. Whomever sent these inept assassin scum knows where you are to be tonight, but didn't attack you at home. Better to retreat to our fortified position and figure out of this person was acting alone or if we should expect more."

"You're right," Caylia said, relieved. "And I wasn't looking forward to this. I guess assassination attempt on the way is a good enough reason to cancel on our host." She moved out of his grip, but grabbed his hand. "Besides my feet are killing me already. I think it's time to retire these shoes." Around them her shield dissipated, waiting to activated again. 

Quinn chuckled softly as they moved together, back towards their apartment. Home was a much better destination than any other one.


	4. Try Again

he wanted to have a child. This wasn't the first time she'd felt the desire, especially since getting married. It was a strange thing to want a child, such a big decision, unknown and yet mundane. Children were born every day, just not one that was theirs, raised by Caylia and Malavai, at least not yet.

Caylia knew that pregnancy was not the optimal path for someone in her position, but it was ultimately her call. She worried about her duties to the Empire, and what it might mean for her. Life would change in innumerable ways, things she couldn't even expect. Even adopting or fostering, though they would not put so much physical strain on her, would still require adaptation. It made her hesitate, because though she faced the unknown quite frequently, she was her own master. A child would be more vulnerable than herself or any of her crew. Quinn, of course, said he had a child-rearing plan ready to enact whenever they might need it.

Looking around her, she wondered if they ever would. It made her desire feel even more selfish, and her guilty for trying under these circumstance. Would there be a time when blaster bolts would stop flying long enough for her to feel safe? Did her enemies in the Republic and those fools in the Empire ever stop to regroup? She doubted both counts. If she did start a family, it would be with all the perils and dangers of her life combined with the unknowns of a pregnancy and raising a child. She wasn't sure about the whole thing at all. Her child and possibly her own life were a lot to risk.

She couldn't know, not until it was done, and that was what frightened her most. But they'd decided and started trying. Children didn't come without some effort, even if it wasn't exactly arduous work. Trying for a child made it sound far less technical than it was. Monitoring her basal temperature, charting her courses, then actually having sex. Well, the last one, they didn't have a problem getting to that part, but the timing was just as important.

Why did this test need urine of all things? It was another bother on top of her nerves. Gathering specimens was not her speciality. She was a warrior, not a medic. Sighing, she finished up and waited for her test results to load up. They came up only a minute or two after her sample was collected, but it felt like an eternity to Caylia.

Negative.

Not this month then. Not last month. Not after trying haphazardly and worrying and agonizing about it before deciding to yes, just do it. She wasn't going to cry, but there was this awful mixture of relief and frustration that coursed through her. Relief because it was unknown, and therefore scary. Frustration because it simply was not happening, even when they tried. By the Force, they'd been trying.

Caylia found her husband sitting at a desk in nearby room. When he looked up, she couldn't find the words. He could tell by the look on her face, but she still shook her head. He'd wanted to run the test himself, but she preferred to find out alone. They didn't speak. She sat on his lap and put her head on his chest. Malavai stroked her hair, soundlessly reassuring her with every touch. 

"Perhaps we should trust that when the time is right, it will happen," he said, breaking their silence for the first time since she'd read the negative test result.

"It's hard to trust in that. For the most part, I make things happen in my life. We decided and it felt like that should have been the end of it."

"This isn't a foe to defeat, and even then, you don't do it alone. It takes more than willpower to make this happen. Give it more time. I believe the physician on Dromund Kaas said to try for a year before regrouping. It's been only a few months."

"Stop being sensible," she chided.

"How else would you have me be?" Malavai asked.

She listened to his heart beating in his chest. Thump-thump, thump-thump. Strong and steady. "Angrier, at least."

"There is nothing to be angry about. It isn't an exact science. I could yell at either your or my reproductive organs, but I'd rather not. They've got better things to do than listen to me."

Caylia laughed, imagining how that scenario would play out. She shifted in his lap and felt Quinn's aforementioned parts stir beneath her. Her hand reached out to bring him closer and she closed her eyes as she kissed him. This wasn't the end, not at all.


	5. A Visit

They don't like Dromund Kaas, and they never fail to let her know it whenever she comes to visit. Jaesa sighs and looks up at the sky. There is no rain, for once, and she's almost lonely without it. She'd gotten used to the drizzle, even though they never spent much time planetside. Perhaps she'd only just gotten used to it in the last few weeks that they'd been here.

It didn't matter. Her mind wasn't with her lord or the crew today. She had to visit her parents. Had to. Once she would have been pleased to visit them, but now she had to. Lord Caylia knows more of her family business than Jaesa does these days, but that is because it is she who coordinates it. She had a good mind for details, and more than once Jaesa has wondered if that same exacting nature that hides beneath all of Caylia's strength is what attracted her to Captain Quinn.

Jaesa doesn't like Quinn overmuch, but feels sorry for him. He is a morass of contradictions that she could not find it in her heart to love. But Caylia untangles him and forgives and loves where Jaesa could not, wouldn't want to do so. Her lord speaks often about her eagerness to have a child with the Captain, and those plans excite Jaesa. Caylia would be good with a child, but she wonders if Quinn's nature could bend enough to let a child grow into themselves without resenting their father. Jaesa'a own apprenticeship has been a mix of guidance and self-exploration, and cannot imagine Caylia raising a child in a dramatically different way.

Without realization, she's reached the building where her parents live. Jaesa stops at the door to smile at the guardsman on duty. He salutes her, then seeing that her smile hasn't wavered, grins back at her. It's freeing being a Sith, and that thought makes her feel the tiniest bit ill. There is no freedom in the Empire for anyone but a Sith, but she is powerful and has a master that most rightly fear. She is free. She could take this man, if he wanted her, and they could have an afternoon more pleasant than the one promised by a visit to her parents. Jaesa looks over her shoulder at him and is pleased to see him looking after her. Her smile this time is more coy, flirtatious. He raises his chin in acknowledgement of it, his grin wide. Her hips sway as she makes her way to the lift.

She is free to do what she wants. No more rules of the Jedi, of peace and compassion. Those ideals are still dear to her, but sometimes they are just words. This is Kaas City. There are no standards like on Alderaan that govern her interactions with marriagable people. She is free.

"Is there any news on your petition to House Alde?" Jaesa asks her father. She was supplied with a glass of overly expensive wine upon entry and sips at it.

"Nothing yet, but I know it's going to be soon. Alderaanians take forever to make up their mind, but it's been months. Lord Caylia has promised some relics as a gift to them, should they approve us sooner, rather than later," her father says. 

The excitement at the prospect makes him sound youthful. She tries not to be disdainful of it, though she's felt with her powers the truth of it. There is little that her father loves more than being rich and having status, the things that were denied to him on Alderaan. That is the root of why he petitions, so he can have rooms in House Alde where he and Mother can retreat to from Kaas City.

Her mother is different. Her heart holds shame at their good fortune. Lord Caylia could have killed them, but instead gave them money and protection. Mother feels shame at how easy her life now is, at how much money her father spends. It makes her snappish and unpleasant, because she doesn't know any other way to express herself. Jaesa always feels sorry for her until criticism directed at her dries up her sympathy.

"It would have been faster to join House Thul," Jaesa says simply, knowing that it will spark more conversation.

"We have our issues with Thul. They opposed the Organas, and for all that we aren't part of the house anymore, I won't become one of their enemies," her father says. 

"Alde is a good house, with loyal soldiers and learned scholars. We won't fit it, but we won't be traitors either," Mother says. The two of them go on for some time extolling the virtues of House Alde. It was the distraction Jaesa wanted.

When she leaves, she cannot remember much of the conversation. Her mother picked at her for wearing such dark robes, for not visiting more, for not sending more holomessages. Even if she did, her mother would complain about other things. Father gifted her a necklace, which adorns her neck as she leaves. The guard is still on duty.

"My lord," he says. His tone is cautious.

"I am Lord Jaesa, apprentice to the Emperor's Wrath," Jaesa says, pulling herself up to her full height. She does not even reach his shoulder. He is broad and made of nothing but muscle, like Pierce.

She didn't like Pierce at first either, but he has grown on her. He is exactly what he appears to be, and is utterly fearless. Vette likes him as much as she can, but the Imperial military never was her type. Pierce is the only one besides Lord Caylia that dares to practice sparring with Broonmark.

"Yes, Lord Jaesa. May I do something for you?" he asks.

"Your name?"

"Private Velance, my lord."

"Well, Velance, would you like to meet me in the Nexus Room after your shift is over?" she asks. He is too lowly ranked to be of much use to her as a contact, but they might have a decent dinner together.

"It would be an honor, my lord. My shift has less than half an hour left," Velance says, looking pleased. The other guard is watching their interaction with an expressionless face, but Jaesa can practically feel the silent warning she's giving Velance.

"That works out well. I will see you there," Jaesa says and then sashays away. She doesn't look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thought is that Jaesa is still mostly LS, but gets more grey the more she lives in the Empire.


End file.
